"When intake is poor or absent for a long time (weeks), weight loss is associated with organ failure and death. A weight loss of about 18% during complete starvation has been suggested to be the point at which major physiological disturbances can be expected (Peel, 1997). Studies reviewed by Elia (2000a, 2001a) suggest that, in lean individuals, the lethal leval of weight loss is about 40% during acute starvation and 50%during semi-starvation. For example, nine lean Irish hunger strikers survived for between 57 and 73 days without any food, with a mean weight loss of 38% of initial body weight (Elia, 2001a). Autopsy studies in subjects who died of starvation have shown that there is a virtual total depletion of body fat (Elis, 2001a), particularly in women (Henry, 2001), while there is a loss of only 25-50% of most other tissues and organs. The brain and skeleton were relatively well preserved (Elia, 2001a). There have been a few case reports of obese persons undergoing a successful ‘total’ fast (no energy) with much longer survival times (even over a year in one case) and much larger weight loss (65-80% or more of initial body weight in severely obese individuals) (Elia, 1992a, 2000a, 2001a; Henry, 2001). Obesity can thus be of benefit for survival in situations of severe food shortage (Elia, 2000a)."